1846 - Founding of the Smithsonian Institution with a $500,000 grant from James Smithson. The first museum is the Air and Space Museum. Due to the limited technology of the day, the Air and Space Museum's exhibits consist of a kite, a feather, and a weird-shaped greenish rock that "looks kinda like it coulda come from space, or som'thin".

1991 - Leo Fender, inventor of the musician, passes away. His death is marked by an international minute of silent rockin' out on the air guitar.